Series: Standalone
Author: Lisa Brown Roberts
Published: February 3, 2015 - Entangled Teen
Format: Ebook received for review
Pages: 352/Goodreads
Seventeen-year-old Darcy Covington never had to worry about money or where her next shopping spree was coming from. Even her dog ate gourmet. Then one day, Darcy’s car is repossessed from the parking lot of her elite private school. As her father’s business hit the skids, Dad didn’t just skip town, he bailed on his family.
Fortunately, Darcy’s uncle owns a thrift shop where she can hide out from the world. There’s also Lucas, the wickedly hot fix-it guy she can’t stop crushing on, even if she’s not sure they’ll ever get out of the friend zone.
But it’s here among the colorful characters of her uncle’s world that Darcy begins to see something more in herself...if she has the courage to follow it.
How Not To Fall In Love by Lisa Brown Roberts teeters on the edge of being New Adult, but still remains a Young Adult book. While I don't usually dip my toes into the younger waters, I did find this book to be enjoyable.
Darcy comes from a relatively wealthy family. She's in highschool and drives an Audi, her dad is kind of a celebrity (of the motivational variety), and she doesn't really want for much. Then one day the Audi is repo'ed while she is at school, and in front of everyone nonetheless. Darcy races home to discovered her world just changed in the blink of an eye. Her father has willfully disappeared... actually, that's putting it nicely. He abandoned his family without a word. Her mother kind of goes off the rails and develops a drinking problem, and Darcy is left to pick up the pieces.
I liked Darcy. She even reunites with an uncle, Charlie, who proves to be a valuable asset in her life. Darcy gets her crap together and takes care of business. That includes her mother, their house, and every other little thing that comes along - including the search for her father. Meanwhile her mother is a blubbering mess. I didn't care for the mother - and not single care for her father, either. In fact, while I understood Darcy's need to find him, I didn't agree with it.
She really grew in this story - because she had to. As a highschooler she should not be arranging her family's estate sale, shopping for a new place to live, or conducting a multi-state search for a deadbeat. Highpoints in this story are the friendships she built with Charlie, his girlfriend Liz, and Lucas (hottie that works for Charlie!) Lucas proved to be an amazing asset, and turned into a romantic interest, and for that I was happy.
I do recommend this book if you are into Young Adult. There were some slow spots in the first half, and the end felt a bit rushed. But the ride was worth it, and if books like this are your thing, then I think this would be a valuable add to your TBR, for sure. One thing that kind of irked me... The title. I never really understood how it related to the story. I don't know. Something to think about, because I really didn't feel that Darcy was not trying to fall in love. Nevertheless, the title has little to do with the story, so I guess that matter is of little consequence.
Buy It!
